Energy shock could spark Asia’s next debt crisis
Por Syed Munir Khasru — South China Morning Post – News feed
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Opinion Syed Munir Khasru Energy shock could spark Asia’s next debt crisis
The IMF and World Bank need to step up debt surveillance as rising energy costs drain foreign exchange reserves and make debt repayments harder
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Syed Munir Khasru Professor Syed Munir Khasru is chairman of the international think tank IPAG Asia-Pacific, Australia, with a presence also in Dhaka, Delhi, Dubai, and Vienna. Published: 4:30pm, 20 Oct 2026
A country need not run out of money to find itself in a debt crisis. It only has to run short of US dollars to pay for its energy.
At the recent International Monetary Fund-World Bank annual meetings in Bangkok, the IMF, which expects global economic growth of 3.1 per cent this year and 3.4 per cent the next, cautioned that energy-importing and lower-income economies face a harder road, even as those riding the artificial intelligence boom fare relatively well.
According to the World Bank’s International Debt Report, between 2022 and 2024, low- and middle-income countries paid US$741 billion more in debt repayments and interest than they received in new external financing. As buffers drain, the next energy shock could push vulnerable economies over the edge.
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